Outlook: The sixth-seeded Warriors roll into the semifinals winners of 14 consecutive matches but face the last team to beat them: the second-seeded Wolves. King handled Troy, 12-2, at the Bonita tournament. But the Warriors, last season’s CIF Division 5 runner-up, has been hot since. The Warriors beat No. 3 seeded Peninsula in the quarterfinals and rallied to defeat Norco in the first round. The Warriors’ attack is diverse with Marissa Vaccher (77 goals), Alex Dowell (49), Claire Schade (44) and Shelby Maldonado (40) each with at least 40 goals. Vaccher is the only senior. Goalie Shannon Tully, a 6-foot senior, has 240 saves to lock down the defense. King lost standout Claire Fisch (concussion) for the season but has still reached the semifinals for the first time since 2006. Freshman Madison Stamen leads the Big VIII League champion in most key stat categories, including goals, assists and steals.

In the other semifinal, top-ranked Arroyo Grande takes on No. 4 Mira Costa at Woollett at 3:30 p.m.

Dan Albano has been a high school sports writer at The Orange County Register since 1993. He covers football and all the aquatics: boys and girls water polo and boys and girls swimming. Dan's passion for water sports has earned him the nickname, Aqua Dan, in the newsroom and taken him to multiple U.S. Olympic Swim Trials and many USA water polo events as a reporter. He also writes about high school football recruiting, including The Register's annual FAB 15 teams that list the top high school football players in the Western U.S. before National Signing Day. He compiles the Hot 150 list of football players to watch in Orange County before each season. During football season, he also partners with Steve Fryer and Jonathan Khamis on OCVarsity.com's Gridiron Show and hosts a weekly podcast on Trinity League football. In 2015, Dan received the Bud Dwyer Jr. media award from the Southern California High School Football Coaches Association. Dan is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, where he worked at The Daily Titan as a news reporter, sports reporter, managing editor and opinion editor.

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